Sei sulla pagina 1di 28

UDK 811.16:811.

17
Izvorni znanstveni lanak
Primljen 5.XII.2013.
Prihvaen za tisak 20.I.2014.
Ranko Matasovi
Odsjek za lingvistiku
Filozofski fakultet Sveuilita u Zagrebu
Luieva 3, HR-10000 Zagreb
rmatasov@ffzg.hr
SUBSTRATUM WORDS IN BALTO-SLAVIC
This paper presents an analysis of those words, attested in Balto-Slavic,
that do not have a clear Indo-European etymology and that could have
been borrowed from some substratum language. It is shown that Bal to-
Sla vic shares most of those words with other Indo-European languag-
es of Northern and Western Europe (especially with Germanic), while
lexical parallels in languages of Southern Europe (Greek and Albani-
an) are much less numerous. Georg Holzers Temematic hypothesis
is also discussed, and a number of alternatives to his etymologies are
suggested. It is argued that Balto-Slavic contains very few words bor-
rowed from substratum languages that are not present in other branch-
es of Indo-European.
Introduction
This could be a very short paper, indeed, since, as will become appar-
ent, I will argue that there are no substratum words in Balto-Slavic. Hav-
ing said that, I must make myself more precise: of course I dont mean
that there are no substratum words in Baltic and Slavic languages. There
are certainly plenty of them, although, as we will see, discovering them
is a very difficult matter. What I will claim is that there is no layer of sub-
stratum words that can be posited for Proto-Balto-Slavic, and that is not
shared by other branches of Indo-European, especially by Germanic, Celt-
ic, and Italic.
Methodologically, it is very difficult to show that a set of loanwords
from some unknown source does not exist. This would be tantamount to
showing that a set of words in an Indo-European language, or group of
languages, does not have a plausible Indo-European etymology, and that
FILOLOGIJA 60, Zagreb 2013
75
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 75 3/19/2014 9:30:03 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
76
positing some unknown source is more probable. The problem lies in the
definition of the concept plausible Indo-European etymology. There are
so many PIE roots, and their reconstructed meanings are often very, very
general, so that it is nearly always possible to come up with a proposal to
the effect that any word in any language is derived from a PIE root, and
that there is a set of often complicated semantic changes by which
the attested form is derivable from PIE. Take the following example.
PSl. *bra shallow water expanse (Croat. bra, Slov. dial. barj, Bulg.
bra, Russ. CSl. bra, Ukr. bar wet area between two hills, Pol. barzyna,
dial. barzwka, Cz. dial. bara, baina, Polabian poro mud, Vasmer I:53,
Sawski I:191, ESSJa I:153, Matasovi 2007). This word has been consid-
ered a borrowing from Illyrian (Gluhak 125), but this is improbable in
the light of its attestations in West Slavic and in Ukrainian (not to men-
tion the fact that we know next to nothing about Illyrian). It has also
been connected to Gr. brboros mud, mire, filth (Vasmer I:53), but this is
formally difficult, since the Slavic forms are acute, as if from a laryngeal
root. Moreover, Gr. brboros can be plausibly connected to Arm. kork dirt
(Beekes 226f.). Rather, one is tempted to derive this Slavic word from PIE
*b
h
eh
2
- shine (LIV. s. v.), cf. Ved. bhti shines, Gr. phan shine. The de-
verbal adjective from this root would have been *b
h
eh
2
-ro-, and the collec-
tive > feminine noun *b
h
eh
2
reh
2
shiny stuff, from which we can derive
PSl. *bra quite regularly. But how convincing is this etymology from the
semantic point of view? There is no generally accepted method for judg-
ing semantic acceptability, and the only way to avoid complete subjectiv-
ity is to point to cases of parallel semantic development. This is indeed
possible, in this case, as PIE *b
h
olHto- white (Lith. bltas) yielded PSl.
*blto mud, swamp (Croat. blto, Russ. bolto, Cz. blto, Pol. boto). But, to
be completely honest, I am not even convinced this etymology is as sol-
id as usually assumed. So it is uncertain whether it can serve as a reliable
parallel to the semantic development assumed for *bra.
Clearly, we need a method for establishing the likelihood that a given
word is not inherited from a proto-language. I do not believe I can pro-
pose a generally acceptable method for this, but I believe that in discuss-
ing possible loanwords from unknown sources one has to bear in mind
the following criteria (Matasovi 2012):
a. Loanwords usually belong to semantic fields that are especially
prone to borrowing (e.g. technological and cultural terminology,
names of plants and animals)
b. The loanwords should be identifiable by their unusual phonolog-
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 76 3/19/2014 9:30:14 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
77
ical characteristics (i.e. unusual root structure, the presence of the
rare PIE vowel *a, etc.); they should be isolated in the lexicon and
not easily derivable from verbal roots.
c. We should avoid root etymologies. That is, reducing an attested
form to a PIE root does not amount to a sound etymology, unless
we can also explain its word-formation and relate it to established
Indo-European patterns. If this cannot be done persuasively, the
word is suspect of being a borrowing from some substratum lan-
guage.
None of these criteria is sufficient by itself. Schrijver (1997) plausibly
shows that in many cases we can posit a word in PIE even if some of the
criteria mentioned above are violated. However, it is the cumulative evi-
dence rather than an individual criterium that tips the balance (Schrijver
1997:296). Even so, claiming that a word, or a set of words in an IE lan-
guage, are borrowings from some unknown substratum, often amounts
to little more than saying that we do not know their etymology. Therefore
Schrijver proposes an additional criterion, namely the identification of
substratum words by the fact that they show phonological and morpho-
nological alternations which are regular in the sense that they recur in
more than one etymon according to a certain pattern but irregular in the
sense that they cannot be explained, for some reason or other, on the ba-
sis of Indo-European phonology and morphology (Schrijver 1997:297).
In what follows, we will see that there are many words of unclear, possi-
bly substratum origin in Baltic and Slavic, that some of these words may
indeed be attributable to Proto-Balto-Slavic, but that such words do not
share any sort of regularity that could point to a common substratum as
a source.
Indo-European substratum in Balto-Slavic?
It is a priori not improbable that there were unknown Indo-Europe-
an languages spoken between the Italic, Celtic and Germanic languag-
es in the West, and Baltic and the Slavic languages in the East. These may
have included Pannonian (Anreiter 2001), Venetic, Dacian, and several
others about which we know next to nothing (Katii 1976). It is not un-
likely, moreover, that there are loanwords from such languages in Balto-
-Slavic, and the only question is whether they can be recognized as such.
A reasonable attempt at discovering these substratum words was made
by Georg Holzer (1989). He argued that there is a layer of Balto-Slavic vo-
cabulary that had been borrowed from an unknown IE language, which
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 77 3/19/2014 9:30:14 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
78
he tentatively identifies with the language of the Cimmerians, a people of
unknown origin who invaded Greece in the 7
th
century BC. According to
Holzer, this language was characterized by a series of sound laws, differ-
ent from Balto-Slavic sound laws, that can be observed in 45 different ety-
mons attested in Balto-Slavic languages. The most prominent of these pu-
tative sound laws are the change of PIE mediae aspiratae into tenues, and
the change of the PIE tenues into mediae (hence the handy name of the
substratum language, Temematic).
A number of Holzers Temematic etymologies appears very plausi-
ble at first sight. Thus, Holzer derives PSl. *svobod free, *svoboda free-
dom from PIE *swe-poti, *swe-poteh
2
, with the first element *swe- from
the root of the reflexive pronoun (cf., e.g., OCS svoj own), and the sec-
ond element from PIE *poti- master, lord (Skr. pti-, Gr. psis husband,
etc.). However, the Slavic words have a perfectly viable etymology that
does not resort to Temematic sound laws: we can derive *svobod from
PIE *swo-b
h
o- (cf. OCS svobstvo person, OPr. subs -self, own, Asg. sub-
ban, Goth. sibja kin, Latv. at-svabint set free) with the rare, but well at-
tested, suffix *-oda (cf. e.g. OCS agoda fruit vs. Lith. oga id., Vasmer
III:596, Trautmann 291, or *lgoda lightness > Croat. lagoda, cf. *lgk
light > Russ. lgkij).
Likewise, Holzer derives PSl. *tsto dough from PIE *d
h
oyg
h
-to- by
Temematic sound laws (cf. Eng. dough, Germ. Teig, Gr. tekhos wall,
etc.), but there is no need for this, since the Slavic word is plausibly con-
nected with Gr. stas flour of spelt mixed and made into dough, OIr. tis
dough, W toes dough < PIE *teh
2
is-to-, cf. also OHG theismo dough
(EDPC 374, Derksen 492f.).
In spite of the fact that his Temematic hypothesis has not met with
much critical reception, not to speak of general acceptance,
1
it is our opin-
ion that it cannot be dismissed out of hand. Holzer has offered a viable
solution to a number of Slavic (to a lesser extent also Baltic) etymological
problems, although it is difficult to accept his overall hypothesis of a sin-
gle substratum language to which all of the etymologically difficult Bal-
to-Slavic words discussed in his book should be ascribed. For our purpos-
es it is important to note that only 11 out of the 45 Temematic roots he re-
constructs have cognates in both Baltic and Slavic; this is under 25 % of
the total number. Another problem is that in all but one case (Tem. *key-
1
Generally speaking, Holzers hypothesis was better accepted among Slavic scho-
lars (e.g. Moszyski 1992, Brozovi 1992) than among Indo-Europeanists (however,
Kortlandt, who belongs both categories of scholars, reviewed Holzers work rather
positively, see Kortlandt 2003).
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 78 3/19/2014 9:30:14 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
79
ro- orphan) the Baltic and Slavic reflexes of the Temematic roots do not
go back to a single prototype. This means that most of his etymologies are
root etymologies, which should not be admitted easily.
Let us review Holzers Temematic etymologies of words that are at-
tested in both Baltic and Slavic:
Tm. *berg-, *borg-: Lith. br, bi, birs, Latv. brze furrow, OCS
brazda, Russ. borozd, Croat. brzda, Cz. brzda, etc. from PIE *porko- (Lat.
porca, Gall. rica, OHG furuh). The Baltic and Slavic forms cannot be derived
from the same prototype, so the derivation from Temematic amounts to
a root etymology. An alternative etymology (Vasmer I:109) relates the
Slavic words to PIE *b
h
ers- point (OHG burst bristle, OIr. barr top); PIE
*b
h
ors-d
h
eh
2
would regularly yield PSl. *borzda, but in this case the Baltic
words must be unrelated. Smoczyski (612) derives them from the PIE
word for birch (*b
h
erHg
h
- > OCS brza, Germ. Birke, etc.). It would orig-
inally have denoted a furrow delineated by birch branches, which is se-
mantically difficult.
Tm. *delno- / *dolno- / *dolgo-: *doln palm of the hand (OCS dla-
na, Russ. dial. doln, Croat. dln, Pol. do), Lith. dlna, dlnas, Latv. dna.
This set of words is derived by Holzer from PIE *telH- (Skr. tla- plain,
surface, OCS tlo ground, floor). However, a better etymology con-
nects these words to PIE *del(h
1
)- hew, cut (e.g. Smoczyski 99, cf. also
IEW 194, Lith. dlti, deli, Lat. dolo cut into shape, dolabra knife, OIr. delb
form, EDPC 95, Alb. dalloj cut, perhaps also Lith. dalti divide). The
original meaning would have been carved, rasped surface. In Russian
dialects, reflexes of *doln mean also threshing-floor (ESSJa V:6364
2
).
Note, however, that OIr. points to a root without the laryngeal, which is
difficult to square with the accentuation of the BSl. forms, which were
acuted.
Tm. *gebi / *gobi: PSl. *zob oats (Croat. zb, Russ. zob, Pol. zb), Lith.
ebk, bk sack for cattle food, Latv. zebenieks id. These words are
derived by Holzer from the same root as German Hafer, OHG habaro oats,
apparently from PIE *kop- by Temematic sound laws. However, the
Germanic words for oats can be plausibly connected with OIr. corca, W
ceirch oats and derived from a proto-form *kork
w
ro- (Kluge 347), and the
Balto-Slavic words can be related to PSl. *zobati peck, Russ. dial. zobat,
OPol. zoba, Croat. zbati peck, eat grains, Lith. bti eat dry substances,
gobble (Derksen 547).
2
ESSJas etymology connecting these BSl. words with Gr. thnar palm of the
hand, OHG tennar id. is far-fetched and formally very difficult.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 79 3/19/2014 9:30:14 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
80
Tm. *key-ro-: PSl. *sir orphaned (Russ. sryj, Cz. sir), Lith. eirs
widower, cf. Av. sa- orphaned, which points to PIE *key-. Smoczyski
(628) and EWA II:615 adduces also Ved. ay- orphan < *keyu-. Holzer
(134f.) relates these words to Skr. hyate is left, hni- lack, Gr. khros or-
phaned, empty, kh ra widow, Lat. hrs heir. However, the PIE root can
be safely reconstructed as *g
h
eh
1
-, and Skr. h- contains the reflex of the la-
ryngeal in the interconsonantal position. The verbal root is Skr. h- leave.
There is no evidence for PIE *i- in this root, so the etymology proposed by
Holzer cannot be correct.
Tm. *ponto-, *pont / *ponti-: PSl. *pto fetter (OCS pl. pta, Croat. pto,
Russ. pto, Pol. pto, Derksen 417), Lith. pntis rope (for fettering hors-
es), pnia id., OPr. panto fetter; Holzer derives this from PIE *b
h
end
h
-
bind (= Eng. bind, Skr. bandh-, etc.), but an alternative etymology is readily
available: these BSl. words come from PIE *(s)penH- stretch, spin, weave
(Arm. henowm weave, Lith. pin attach, OHG spannan, Gr. pnomai get
tired, IEW 988). The same root is attested in PSl. pta heel, OPr. pentis
id., Lith. pntis back side of an axe (Smoczyski 450).
Tm. *proko- / *pirk: PSl. *prok remaining (ORuss. prok rest, OCS
prok, OPol. prokny every, Derksen 421), Lith. pirki, pirki peasant house,
cottage , dial. pirkit larder, pantry; these words are derived by Holzer
from PIE *b
h
rg
h
o-keep, preserve (Russ. bereg). Again the Slavic and Bal-
tic words do not match exactly, so we are dealing with a root etymology.
A simpler solution within Slavic is to derive *prok from the preposition
*pro- forward and a suffix *-k which is common in adjectives (Snoj 582).
Cf. also Gr. prka immediately and Lat. procul far.
Tm. *swep-/ *sup-: PSl. *svepet moving around, OCS svepiti s move
Cz. svapato bee-hive (Derksen 475), Lith. sup, spti move with difficulty,
to rock, cradle, PSl. *st bee-hive; these are derived by Holzer from PIE
*web
h
- weave (OHG weban, Gr. hyphan, etc.). However, a rather plausi-
ble etymology derives these words from PIE *sewp- to strew, to throw,
cf. also Lat. supo pour, strew, ORuss. sp embankment, hill, OCS suti
pour, strew. This hypothesis, admittedly, involves Schwebeablaut. PSl.
*st can be derived from *sup-to- (Vasmer II:702 thinks this etymology is
uncertain).
Tm. *tel- calf (PSl. *tel calf > Croat. tle, Russ. telnok, Pol. ciel), Latv.
tles, dial. te, Lith. dial. tlis, tlias); derived by Holzer from PIE *d
h
eh
1
-
l- sucking (Gr. thlys feminine). However, Snoj derives this from a root
noun *tl, *tls from the root meaning to bear (Latv. iz-tilt bring, Lat.
tollo, tollere pick up, Gr. tlnai bear, support, IEW 1060f.), but this is se-
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 80 3/19/2014 9:30:14 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
81
mantically difficult. A connection is possible with *toliti calm, soothe, but
again the semantic connection is weak. Most likely, this Slavic word is of
Turkic origin, cf. Tuvan tel calf, Kazakh tel, Yakut tl. Starostin (www.star-
ling.ru) reconstructs Proto-Turkic *T.l- a kid or calf sucking two milch-
ewes or cows. Since there are no direct Turkic loanwords in Baltic, it is
probable that the Baltic words for calf were borrowed from Slavic.
Tm. *trono-, *tronto- drone (Croat. trt, Russ. trten, Pol. obs. trt,
Derksen 498), Lith. trnas, Latv. trans vs. Germ. Drohne and Gr. thrnaks).
These words indeed appear to be of substratum origin, since the initial *t-
in BSl. cannot correspond regularly to Germanic *d- and Greek *th-. Note,
however, that the Slavic and Baltic formations are not identical, so they
may have been borrowed from different sources, or through different in-
termediaries.
Tm. *twer- / *tur- / *tworo-: Lith. tveri, tvrti take, hold, Latv. tvru,
tvrt, OPr. turei has, OCS za-tvoriti close, Lith. tvrtas stable. Holzer de-
rives these words from PIE *d
h
wer- close (OCS dvor courtyard, dvr
door), but a perfectly viable PIE etymology is available, cf. Gr. sros urn,
seir rope, cord (with a noose) (Smoczyski 698). LIV accepts this and re-
constructs the root as *twerH- seize. Cf. also Lith. tvor fence, OCS tvar
creature, creation with the lengthened grade (PIE *twrH-, which may
have been a root noun).
Tm. *twirdo- / *twirto- strong, firm, solid: PSl. *tvrd, Lith. tvr-
tas, Latv. tvrts; Holzer derives these words from PIE *d
h
wer-to- having
doors, but they are quite obviously related to the preceding etymon. The
semantic development was from seized to squeezed and firm, solid. In
any case, the Baltic and Slavic suffixes do not match.
Everything considered, Holzers hypothesis remains unproven, espe-
cially if it is meant to show that his Temematic loanwords were bor-
rowed during the Balto-Slavic period. It remains possible that both Slavic
and Baltic borrowed independently from some unknown Indo-European
language, which may or may not be identical with Holzers Temematic.
Other possible loanwords from Indo-European substratums in Balto-
Slavic were sought in the words showing Palatalwechsel, where Baltic and/
or Slavic show plain velars, while evidence from other Satem-languages
shows that a palatalized velar must be posited for PIE (Gob 1972, 1990).
However, the examination of the evidence shows that in most cases regu-
lar depalatalizations in Balto-Slavic can be posited, e.g. after *s-mobile, or
before a resonant followed by a back vowel (Matasovi 2005). In the few
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 81 3/19/2014 9:30:14 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
82
cases where phonological depalatalizations cannot be assumed,
3
it is al-
ways simpler to assume that a word was borrowed from a known group
of languages (especially Germanic and Celtic) than from some unknown
substratum.
Non-Indo-European vocabulary in Balto-Slavic
Of all the language families in the world about which we have any
knowledge, Uralic is the only one that is a reasonable candidate for the do-
nor of substratum vocabulary in Balto-Slavic. Today, nearly all Uralic lan-
guages are spoken near the Slavic and/or Baltic speaking area, and Ural-
ic, Baltic, and Slavic contacts certainly stretch back deep into prehistory.
However, although there are many Uralic loanwords in individual Balto-
Slavic languages, especially in Russian and Latvian, there do not seem to
be any Uralic loanwords that could be attributed to Proto-Slavic, or to Bal-
to-Slavic periods (Kallio 2005).
Of course, there may have been other, now extinct non-IE languages
and/or language families in Europe, and Balto-Slavic may have borrowed
words from any of them. It has long been known that Indo-European lan-
guages spoken in Europe share many vocabulary items that do not have
cognates in the Asian branches of Indo-European. Some of this vocabulary
may have been preserved from Common PIE only in the west, but some
is likely to have been borrowed from unknown substratum languages of
Europe. These languages may have been genetically related, if they were
all descended from the language of the first Neolithic farmers who had ar-
rived in Europe from Asia Minor in the 7th and 6th millennium BC, but
at least equally possible is that they belonged to different language fami-
lies, some of which were perhaps related to Basque, while others were not.
These languages, or language families, may ultimately have been spoken
by the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers who adopted agriculture from the set-
tlers arriving in Europe from Asia Minor and the Middle East. The next
sections contain a list of words in Baltic and Slavic languages that have
cognates only in European branches of IE.
4
3
E.g. in the Slavic word for goose (PSl. *gs > Russ. gus, Pol. g vs. Lith. ss,
OPr. sansy, Latv. zoss), which might be from Germanic (cf. OHG gans), and in the
Slavic word for cow (PSl. *korva > Russ. korva, Croat. krva), cf. W carw deer.
4
We will exclude words that have very limited distribution in Slavic, especially
those that are limited to Russian, Baltic, and North Germanic, as there is no evidence
that such words go back to Proto-Slavic. A good example is Russ. sig a kind of salm-
on, Coregonus lavaretus, which was presumably borrowed from the same unknown
source as Lith. sykis, Latv. ska, sga, and OIc. skr, Swedish sik (Orel 330, Vasmer II:621).
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 82 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
83
The northwestern connections
In this section we will look at those words that Balto-Slavic shares with
Northwestern Indo-European dialects (especially Germanic, Celtic and
Italic) that are suspect of having substratum origin.
5
PSl. *olxa alder (Russ. olxa, Pol. olcha, Bulg. elx, ESSJa VI:2325.),
Lith. aksnis, eksnis, dial. alksnis alder (Smoczyski 11); there are paral-
lels in Germanic (OE alor, OHG elira < *alisa, Orel 15) and Latin (alnus al-
der, de Vaan 3435). The variation in the Anlaut points to probable sub-
stratum origin (thus Derksen 3701).
PSl. *bagno swamp (Russ. dial. bagn, Pol. bagno, Cz. bahno, ESSJa
I:125127), Dutch bagger mud, OHG bah stream, OIc. bekkr brook, riv-
ulet, OE bece (< PGerm. *bakiz, Orel 33), perhaps MIr. bal flowing water
(if from *boglo-). Long *a in Slavic could be due to Winters law, in which
case this is a very early loan from some unknown source.
PSl. *balka ravine, pool (Pol. dial. baka pool, pond, Russ. dial. balka
ravine, perhaps also Croat. dial. balka, bala Stipa pennata L, ESSJa I:149),
Lith. bal swamp, Latv. bala woodless valley, OE pl pool, OHG pfuol
id. < PGerm. *plaz (Orel 292). The derivation from PIE *b
h
elH- white
or *b
h
eh
2
- light (ESSJa) is impossible because of initial *p- in Germanic. If
these words are related, it is probably a substratum word
6
.
PSl. *belen, *bln henbane (Russ. dial. belen, OPol. ble, Cz. bln,
Bulg. blen day-dream, ESSJa I:185187); these words are certainly relat-
ed to the Germanic words for henbane, e.g. OE beolone, OS bilene, perhaps
Gaul. belenountan (Asg.). In Germanic we also find forms with different
suffixes that probably point to substratum origin (Schrijver 1999), cf. OHG
bilisa (Germ. Bilsenkraut), Swedish Bolmrt, Kluge 111).
PSl. *bob bean (Russ. bob, Croat. bb, Pol. bb, ESSJa II:148), OPr. babo
bean (perhaps a Slavic loanword), OE bean, OHG bna (< PGerm. *baun
< *bab-n), Lat. faba bean. The usual comparison with Gr. phaks len-
til and Alb. bath Vicia faba does not lead anywhere (Demiraj 94, see also
Kuiper 1995).
PSl. *drg bar, pole (OCS drgy sticks, Pol. drg, Croat. drg rail),
5
There are, of course, many other lexemes that Baltic, Slavic (or both) share with
Northwestern IE dialects, especially with Germanic (see Stang 1972), but there are no
reasons to believe they are of substratum origin (according to the criteria sketched in
the Introduction).
6
Smoczyski (42) separates Lith. bal from PSl. *balka and relates it to the Lith.
adjective blas pale, white, which is presumably related to bltas white (in turn
from the same root as PSl. *bolto mud, see above).
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 83 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
84
Lith. dragas pole (used as a lever), ESSJa V:129130; OIc. drangr de-
tached pillar of rock, OIc. drengr heavy stick; a variant with *-k- is PSl.
*drk bar, pole (Russ. druk, Cz. drouk, Croat. druk), ESSJa V:130131.
The alternation of voiced and voiceless root-final stops might point to the
substratum origin (thus Derksen 121).
PSl. *golb pigeon (Croat. glb, OCS golb, Russ. glub, Pol. gob,
ESSJa VI:21517), is too similar to Lat. columba for the similarity to be ac-
cidental; the forms may go back to *Kol-omb
h
-, with the suffix *-omb
h
-/
*-emb
h
- which is common in bird-names (see also Derksen 2000). Holzer
(1989) considers the Slavic form a Temematic loanword. Baltic does not
show direct reflexes, but cf. Lith. gelumb blue cloth, OPr. golimban blue
vs. Russ. golubj pale blue, OPr. goby greyish, blue-grey (ESSJa VI:217).
PSl. *grabr hornbeam (Croat. grb, Serb. dial. gbar, grbar, Sln. gber,
grber, Russ. grab, Pol. grab, Cz. habr, ESSJa VII:99100). Cf. OPr. wosi-
grabis Evonymus Europaeus. The appurtenance of Umbr. Grabovius (epithet
of Jove on Iguvine Tablets) and Ancient Macedonian grbin a kind of tree
is uncertain. The comparison with Lith. skrblas hornbeam (Smoczyski
568), perhaps Lat. carpinus id.
7
shows that we may be dealing with a sub-
stratum word, reconstructable as *(s)grp/b
h
-, a distinctively non-IE shape.
PSl. *grmd, *krmelj fester in the corners of the eyes, gramiae
(Russ. CS grmd, Croat. krmlj, Slov. krmlj, ESSJa VII:1589). The sim-
ilarity with lat. grmiae, gramiae viscous humour, rheum in the corner of
the eyes and Goth. qrammia moisture is too great to ignore, but these
words cannot be reduced to a single prototype, so they were probably bor-
rowed from some non-IE source (thus also De Vaan 270).
OLith. kasulas hunting spear, Lat. corulus hazel-tree < *kosulo-, OIr.
coll, W coll < PCelt. *koslo- hazeltree, OHG hasal, OIc. hasl < PGerm.
*xaslaz id. (Orel 164). The alternation in the shape of the suffix (*-slo- /
*-sulo-) points, perhaps, to non-IE origin.
PSl. *elbed, *olbd swan (Russ. lbed, Cz. labut, Croat. lbd, OPol.
ab, Pol. abd, ESSja VI:19, XXXII:5051.), OHG albiz, elbiz, Lat. olor,
OIr. elu, W alarch, pl. eleirch. The alternation of *e- and *o- in Slavic is an
instance of Rozwadowskis change, but still the vocalism of the different
words for swan is difficult to square with a PIE prototype (De Vaan 427).
Another trace of substratum origin could be the alternation of stem-final
*-d and *-t. Celtic and Italic point to *el-, Germanic to *al- (*h
2
el-), and
Slavic can be from both, but the acute on the root implies that the root end-
7
De Vaan 94 relates this to Hitt. karpina- kind of fruit tree, Lith. skipstas elm and
speculates that the root is the same as in Lat. carpo pluck, gather (PIE *ker-p-).
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 84 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
85
ed in a laryngeal. Perhaps the forms with *a- were influenced by *h
2
elb
h
o-
white (> Lat. albus).
PSl. *xvoja needles of a coniferous tree, (Pol. choja, Russ. xvja, Pol. cho-
ja, ESSJa VIII:125126), Lith. skuj, Latv. skuja (Smoczyski 568, doubting
the etymology), OIr. sc, scad [Gsg.] thorn bush (PCelt. *skwiyat-, EDPC
339). We may posit an original alternation *skwoy- / *skuy-, but the shape
of the root is distinctively non-Indo-European.
PSl. *klati kneel (OCS klta [Ndu part. pres. act.] kneeling, Pol.
klcze, Croat. klati, ESSJa X:289), Lith. klnkiu walk with difficul-
ty; Snoj (277) derives these words from PIE *kleng-, *klenk- (Lat. cling-
ere, MHG lenken, MHG gelenke, OHG (h)lanca thigh, haunch, Kluge 310).
Note, however, that the reflexes are attested only in the European branch-
es, where the alternation of *k and *g may point to substratum origin.
PSl. *klen maple (Russ. kln, Pol. klon, Croat. kln, Vasmer I:567), Lith.
klvas (Smoczyski 297), Latv. kavas, OE hln, OIc. hlynr < PGerm. *hlu-
ni. W kelyn holly, OCo. kelin, OIr. cuilenn (EDPC 213) come from PCelt.
*kolino- and need not be related (likewise OE holegn holly, OHG hulis-
boum). The connection with Macedonian klin(s)trokhos (Theophrastus) is
also doubtful.
PSl. *kobc, *kobuz, *kobz kite, hawk (Russ. kbec, , Pol. kobiec,
Croat. kbac, Russ. dial. kbuz, Pol. kobuz, kobz, Vasmer I:5823), OHG
habuh kite, OE hafoc hawk, OIc. haukr < PGerm. *habukaz (Orel 138).
The Slavic noun *kobc seems to be formed with the diminutive suffix
*-c, and the form *kobuz may be directly comparable to the Germanic
words for hawk. However, a reconstruction *kobugo- does not look like
a PIE word.
*PSl. *lntja lentil (CSl. lta, Russ. ljaa, Bulg. lta, Croat. la, Vas-
mer II:84, ESSJa XV:6365), OHG linsa lentil (Kluge 521 claims that this
is not a Latin loanword), Lat. lns lentil (De Vaan 238). Gr. lthyros pulse,
Vicia sativa is probably unrelated.
8
Since lentils were originally cultivated
in the Middle East and the Balkans, it seems probable that the word was
borrowed from some Mediterranean source, perhaps one of the lost non-
IE languages of the Balkans.
Lith. mkas purse, PCelt. *makin (MW megin bellows, Co. mygen,
EDPC 254), OHG mago belly, OE maga id. < PGerm. *magn, Orel 253.
8
Lith. lis lentil is probably borrowed from Germ. Linse (Smoczyski 348).
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 85 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
86
The vowel *a points to a non-IE origin.
Lith. ntryn nettle, OPr. noatis, perhaps also PSl. *nat leafy top of
a root vegetable (Ukr. dial. nat, Pol. na, Croat. nt ESSJa XXIII:186f.),
PGerm. *natn, *natiln (OE netele, OHG nazza, nezzila, Orel 281f.), PCelt.
*ninati- (OIr. nenaid, MW dynat [pl], EDPC 290). The reflexes point to *nina-
ti- and *nti-, a very non-Indo-European form.
PSl. *ovs oats (Russ. ovs, Pol. owies, Croat. vas, Derksen 384f.), Lith.
avi, Latv. uza, OPr. wyse, Lat. avna < *aweksn; both the alternation of
the voiced and voiceless palatalized velars in BSl. and the unusual shape
of the suffix (*-eKs- / *-iKs-) point to the substratum origin (Oettinger 2003.
189).
PSl. *rog horn (OCS rog, Croat. rg, Russ. rog, Pol. rg, Derksen 438),
Lith. rgas, Latv. rgs, OPr. ragis. Smoczyski 495 relates these words to
Lith. regti see, assuming a root *reg
h
- to be visible, appear, Germ. sich
regen. Snoj 627 also starts with the meaning to stick out and connects Lith.
rogsti stick out, cf. also CS rogoz bull-rush, sedge, Russ. rogz. LIV re-
constructs the root as *reg
h
-, but there seems to be also a variant *rek- in
PGerm. *rah stick, pole (ON r sailyard pole, OHG raha shuttle, Orel
293), Lith. rkls [pl.] scaffolding. If these words are related (which is by
no means certain), they show the alterantion of voiced and voiceless stops
at the end of the first syllable, which might be indicative of substratum or-
igin.
PSl. *ruxo clothes (Russ. rxo, Croat. rho, Pol. rucho) can be derived
from *ruk-s-o- and related to PGerm. *rukkaz (OHG rocko overcoat, OE
rocc upper garment, Orel 308), PCelt. ?rowkk- / *ruk- (MIr. rucht tunic,
W rhuch film, layer, jerkin, coat, EDPC 315). The alternation between
the geminate and the simple *-k- (and *x in Slavic) looks non-IE.
Lith. serbent blackberry, redcurrant, dial. sarbent (Smoczyski 543),
Russ. dial. sorbalna blackberry, Rubus fruticosus, serbalna, serbarna rose-
hip, Byelorussian cerbaln blackberry (Vasmer II:697), Lat. sorbus service-
tree (De Vaan 576), perhaps also Swedish sarv rudd, redeye, Leuciscus ery-
hrophthalmus (a reddish fish). Since the Slavic reflexes are limited to Rus-
sian dialects (and an isolated Byelorussian form), this might be a Baltic
loanword in Slavic. The verbal root seems to be attested in Lith. sibti rip-
en (perhaps originally redden, since all of the berries denoted by this set
of words are red).
9

PSl. *srebro silver (OCS srebro, Russ. serebr, Pol. srebro), Lith. sid-
9
One is tempted to connect these words to OIr. suib strawberrry, W syfi < PCelt.
*subi- (EDPC 358), which are without etymology.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 86 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
87
bras, Latv. sidrabs (Smoczyski 546, who claims that the Baltic forms were
borrowed from Slavic), Goth. silubr. The appurtenance of Celtib. ilapur is
probable, but not quite certain (EDPC 41).
OPr. spurglis sparrow, OE spearwa sparrow, PCelt. *sfrawo- crow
(Bret. fraw, Co. frau, EDPC 334), perhaps Lat. parra a kind of bird, Gr. (He-
sych) sparsion sparrow-like bird, cf. Schrijver 1997:304.
*(i)vlga oriole (CS vlga, Russ. volga, Pol. wilga, dial. wywioga, wi-
wielga, Croat. vga, Bulg. avlga, ESSJa VIII:251252), Lith. volung ori-
ole, Latv. vludze, MHG witewal oriole, Dutch wielewaal. Since wite- of
MHG witewal means wood, it has been claimed that the apparent prefix
*i- in Slavic is from *iwo-, i.e. that *ivlga is from *ivo-vlga (Derksen 217),
where *ivo- is the word for willow (Russ. va, Croat. va, Lith. eva bird-
cherry). However, even if this is accepted, one cannot reconstruct a Bal-
to-Slavic proto-form for the word for oriole, so borrowing from a sub-
stratum language and different adaptations in Baltic and Slavic seem very
likely.
This set of words contains many nouns referring to cultural items, flo-
ra and fauna, that are readily borrowed in situations of intensive language
contact. Otherwise, there are very few, if any, formal features that can be
gathered from this material. One thing worth mentioning is that the al-
ternation of the suffixes *-is- and *-(e)n- can be observed in a number of
items referring to plant and tree names, e.g. PSl. *bel(e)n henbane and
OE beolone vs. OHG bilisa, PSl. *klen maple vs. OHG hulisboum, and per-
haps Lith. aksnis alder and Lat. alnus vs. PSl. *olxa, OHG elira.
The southern connections
The lexical items ascribable to a substratum and shared by Slavic and/
or Baltic with the southern European languages (especially Greek and
Albanian) are much less numerous, and they are generally based on less
reliable etymologies:
PSl. *kolyba ,*koliba hut (Slov. kolba, Cz. dial. koliba tent, Bulg. kolba),
Gr. kalb; possibly related to PSl. *xalupa hut, cottage (Croat. halupa
(Kastav), Slov. halpa, Russ. dial. xalpa, Pol. chaupa). PSl. kolyba may have
been borrowed from Greek at a relatively late stage (after the Slavic mi-
grations), but this does not solve the problem of the ultimate origin of this
word.
PSl. *kos blackbird (Croat. ks, Russ. kos) is usually related to Gr.
kpsikhos, kssyphos (also kttyphos, kssykos) id.; this is a very uncertain
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 87 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
88
etymology, since the original form of the Greek word for blackbird is dif-
ficult to ascertain. PSl. *kos would be derivable from *kopso-, but it could
just as well be from PIE *kos-, from the root *kes- to scratch, to comb
(OCS esati, etc.). The semantic development would have been from the
scratcher to blackbird, and it is interesting to note that blackbirds do in-
deed scratch the soil and litter to pull earthworms (admittedly, so do oth-
er species of birds). A semantic parallel development can be observed in
Croat. ljugar (goldfinch, Carduelis caruelis), which is derived from ealj
comb, from the same PIE root *kes- (Skok I:311f.).
PSl. *klp swan Pol. dial. kieb swan, Russ. dial. kolp spoonbill,
Croat. dial. kp swan, ULus. kop. These words are certainly related to
Latv. glbis, Lith. gub, gulbs (4), with initial g-, Derksen 261. The original
form had g- to judge by OIr. gulban beak, sting, W gylfin beak, snout, if
this etymology is correct (EDPC 168169 does not accept it).
PSl. *mrky carrot (Russ. morkv, Croat. mrkva, Pol. marchew), OHG
morha; often related to Gr. brkana [pl.] wild herbs (Vasmer II:158159).
The connection with the Greek word is very dubious, as the meanings do
not match, and there is no evidence that Greek br- is from *mr-; Beekes
(235) considers it Pre-Greek and doubts the connection with the putative
Slavic and Germanic cognates. It is also possible that the Slavic word was
borrowed from Germanic, but this does not solve the question of its ulti-
mate origin.
PSl. *trst reed, cane (OCS trst, Russ. trost, Pol. tre, Croat. trst),
Lith. triai, trus, Latv. trusis, Trautmann 330, Vasmer III:141. The connec-
tion with Gr. thron reed, rush (IEW 1097, DELG 443) is possible only if
one assumes the development *truso- > *truho- > *thruso- in Greek, which
is dubious. The unusual Anlaut in Greek could also be used as an argu-
ment for borrowing from some non-IE language.
Pan-European substratum words
In a few cases, the substratum words found in Slavic have cognates
both in the South (usually in Greek) and in the North (usually in German-
ic); good examples are:
PSl. *brglz finch (Russ. berglz, Croat. brglijez, Vasmer I:75), Gr.
phryglos, Lat. fringilla (Vasmer I:75). However, Beekes (1593) notes that
the meaning of the Greek bird name is not completely certain (chaffinch
is only one possibility). It is also possible that all of these words are inde-
pendent, originally onomatopoetic formations.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 88 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
89
PSl. *emer Veratrum album, hellebore (Russ. dial. mer, Pol. dial.
czemier, Croat. mr venom, anger, ESSJa IV:5253), Lith. kmeras, OHG
hemera id., Gr. kmaros.
PSl. *eremuxa, *ermxa, *serma ramson, bird cherry (Croat.
srjemua, crjema, Russ. dial. ermuxa, Pol. trzemcha, Slov. rmha, ESS-Ja
IV:6668), Lith. dial. kermu tip of a drill, ramson, Gr. krmyon, krmy-
on onion, OIr. crem wild garlic, leek, W craf [Collective] garlic < PCelt.
*kremu-, *kramu- (EDPC 222), OE hramsa ramson, ESSJa IV:6668. The
forms with initial *s- < *k in Slavic show that this is a very early loan, since
it exhibits Palatalwechsel. The comparison with Greek and Celtic forms
does not allow the reconstruction of a PIE prototype, so this word was
probably borrowed from some non-IE source.
PSl. *esn garlic (Russ. esnk, Croat. san, Pol. czosnek, ESSJa IV:89
90), PCelt. *kasnin garlic (MIr. cainnenn, OW cennin [p] leeks, daffodils,
OCo. kenin gl. allium, EDPC 193); the alternation *e/*a seems to point to
substratum origin (Schrijver 1995:495), but the e-vocalism of Slavic may
be due to the influence of the verbal root *kes- to comb, (?) to peel (OCS
esati).
PSl. *konop rope (Slov. konp, Bulg. konp, Russ. dial. konp, konp
OPol. kono, ULus. konop, Vasmer I:615), OHG hanaf hemp, OE haenep
< PGerm. *hanapa- (Kluge 354), Gr. knnabis. This is an old Wanderwort,
perhaps of oriental origin, cf. Sumerian kunibu hemp.
10
PSl. *klk hip (Russ. dial. kolk, Croat. kk, Bulg. klka, Vasmer I:600),
Lith. kulkns, ankle, OPr. culczi hip, Latv. kulksnis tarsal joint; the com-
parison with Lat. calx heel, hoof (De Vaan 86) seems very probable, but
a common prototype cannot be reconstructed. The distinctly non-IE form
of the root *kVlk- points to non-IE origin.
PSl. *mak poppy (Russ. mak, Croat. mk, Pol. mak, ESSJa XVII:149
151), Lith. dial. mguon, Latv. magune, OPr. moke. The Lithuanian and
Latvian words were probably borrowed from Germanic, (Derksen 299
300), cf. OHG mago besides mho, and the OPr. word may be a loanword
from Polish. The vowel alternation in Germanic is unclear, as the OHG
forms point to *makn- and *mkn.
11
The comparison with Gr. m kon,
Dor. mkon poppy shows that the proto-form of the root *meh
2
ko-, pe-
haps alternating with *mh
2
k- is original. The vowel alternation in Ger-
10
Herodotus (4.7475) claims that hemp was imported from Scythia. Lat. canna-
bis is a Greek loanword.
11
Boutkan (1998) notes that a similar alternation exists in PGerm. *maga- girl,
maid and *mg- > Goth. megs son-in-law, which he also considers as loanwords from
some non-IE source.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 89 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
90
manic might be due to different adaptations of the same foreign sound
(?//) either as *a, or as *.
PSl. *rpa turnip (Russ. rpa, Croat. rpa, Cz. epa), Lith. rp, OHG
ruoba, ruoppa, Lat. rpum, Gr. rhpys, rhphys. The diverging vocalism of the
words for turnip in European languages suggests this is a loanword from
some non-IE source (thus also De Vaan 14).
PSl. *roda heron (OCS roda, Croat. rda, Skok III:163), Gr. erdis,
rhdis, Lat. ardea, perhaps also OIc. rta a kind of duck. The diverging
vocalism of the words for heron cannot be reconciled with a PIE recon-
struction. This word was probably as migratory as the bird it denotes.
PSl. *vers, *versk heather (Russ. vresk, Cz. ves, Croat. vrjes, Derk-
sen 516), Lith. vris, Latv. vizis, vrsis; the Slavic form points to *werk-,
and the Baltic forms to *wrk- or *wrg-. T. Pronk (p. c.) thinks that Baltic
-- may be due to influence from Lith. verti string, tighten, squeeze
< *uerh-. Undoubtedly related are Gr. erek (< *wer-eyk-o-), OIr. froech,
W grug (< *wroyko-), but no common prototype can be posited (Snoj as-
sumes *werk-, *wrg-, *wereyk-, *wroyk-). Everything considered, this is
probably a loanword from some Non-IE language (thus also Beekes 452).
Again, it should be noted that Baltic reflexes of words belonging to this
stratum of the lexicon are often missing. Words belonging to this layer
appear to be Wanderworter, and their original source(s) and paths of
transmission are probably impossible to determine.
Words limited to Balto-Slavic
Finally, there is a group of words that is attested only in Balto-Slavic,
and there are no plausible cognates elsewhere in Indo-European.
12
Here
is a tentative list:
BSl. *bauKura- > PSl. *bugor, *bugr hillock (Russ. and Ukr. bugr),
Latv. bagurs id., cf. perhaps also Lith. kab(u)ras hillock (with metathe-
sis and unexplained k-); a connection with the PIE root *b
h
ewg
h
- to bow,
twist (Goth. biugan, Skr. bhuj-, ESSJa III:79) is formally difficult (because of
the acute in Latvian) and semantically not particularly attractive. Since no
reflexes are attested in W and S Slavic, the E Slavic words may have been
borrowed from Baltic.
12
The source for this section is Trautmanns dictionary (1921); of course, it contains
other lexemes that are limited (at least in terms of word-formation) to Balto-Slavic, but
we have collected those that are most likely to be loanwords from some substratum
language according to our criteria sketched in the Introduction to this paper.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 90 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
91
BSl. *Purna- > PSl. *brna snout (Slov. dial. bna carnival mask depict-
ing an animal, Croat. brna, Maced. brna nose-ring of animals, Lith. burn
(3) mouth, face, but Latv. puns snout. The etymological connection with
Arm. beran mouth is conjectural (Derksen 69), as well as with the root
*b
h
erH- to bore (Lat. formen opening), not to speak of the connection
with MIr. bern [ f] gap, breach, pass.
BSl. *darga- > PSl. *dorg dear (Croat. drg, Russ. dorogj, Pol. drogy),
Latv. d`rgs; Snoj (120) and SP IV, 121 tentatively relate this to the root
*d
h
reg
h
- hold (IEW 252, Av. draaite holds, Gr. drssomai hold, OCS
drati). The original meaning would have been powerful, (able to) hold.
ESSJa V:77 claims that Latv. drgs is a Slavic loanword.
BSl.*e/a-mela- > PSl. *emela,*jmela mistletoe (Russ. omla, Pol. jemioa,
Croat. mela, dial. mela), Lith. malas, malas, Latv. amuols, amuls, OPr.
emelno; cf. also (with Ablaut) Latv. muls, mulis id. Smoczyski (13) men-
tions the traditional etymology which relates these words with the root
*h
1
em- hold, take (Lat. emo, OCS imati, Lith. im, iti), because mistletoe
is used in the production of glue. More likely, only Slavic forms with initial
*j- (e.g. Croat. imela) were influenced by this root. Smoczyski also men-
tions the alleged connection with Lat. amrus bitter, but does not really
believe it. ESSJa V:26 compares Eng. mistel, OHG mistil but offers no solu-
tion. Kluge (535f.) derives the Germanic forms from *mihs-tlo- and relates
them to Gr. ikss, Lat. viscum, perhaps also PSl. *vinja cherry, but the in-
itial *m- is unexplained. Could this be an instance of the prefixation of *a-
found in Northwest European loanwords?
BSl. *graSa- threatening > PSl. *groziti threaten (Russ. grozt, gro,
Pol. grozi, Croat. grziti, ESSJa VII:143), *groza horror (OCS groza, Russ.
groz, Pol. groza, Croat. grza, ESSJa VII:141142), Lith. grati threaten,
gras beautiful, OLatv. grzns beautiful, luxurious. With -s- we also
have Lith. grasnti threaten, grass threatening. The connection with
OIr. gargg wild, Gr. Gorg Gorgon, gorgs terrible (Snoj 193, IEW 353) is
very dubious. The alternation of Slavic *s and Lith might point to a sub-
stratum origin, but ESSJa VII:141f. claims that the Lithuanian forms with
-- were borrowed from Slavic and that the forms with *-s- are unrelated,
which is probably true. Smoczyski (195f.) leaves Lith. gras without et-
ymology.
BSl. *Kl(a)ua- > PSl. *glux deaf (OCS glux, Russ. glxyj, Croat. glh,
Cz. hluch, ESSJa VI:146147), Lith. gluas dumb; Snoj (176) relates this
to PSl. *glup silly and *glum, *gluma joke. Vasmer (I:277) compares
Lith. glusns obedient, klusns id., dial. klsas dumbish. The alterna-
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 91 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
92
tion of *k- and *g- may be a sign that these words are of substratum ori-
gin. ESSJas (VI:147) derivation from PIE *klows- hear by expressive
change of *k to *g does not lead anywhere.
BSl. *Kraua- > PSl. *gra pear (Russ. gra, Cz. hruka, Pol. gru-
sza), PSl. *krua (Bulg. kra, Croat. krka, dial. krva, Pol. dial. krusza,
ULus. kruva, LLus. krua; in Baltic only with *k-, cf. Lith. kriu, OPr. [pl.]
crausios, Vasmer I:314. ESSJa (VII:156) connects these words with the ver-
bal root found in PSl. *gruiti / *kruiti crush, but this is hard to believe
on semantic grounds.
13
BSl. *ni- > PSl. *inj hoar-frost (OCS inii, Russ. nej, Cz. jn, Croat.
nje, ESSJa VIII. 2356), Lith. nis. These words might perhaps be relat-
ed to Germ. Eis < Germ. *saz (Orel 204), which may be, in turn, from the
same root as Av. axa- cold, isu- icy. The problem is that we would ex-
pect the cluster *-sn- to be preserved in Balto-Slavic. Snoj (202) considers
the possibility that the original form was *ivnje and compares Slov. vje
hoar-frost, Russ. dial. ven id. ESSJa VIII:235 agrees with this and claims
that Lith nis was borrowed from Slavic. According to ESSJa, *jvnje
would be derivable from *jva, *jvica edge, crust (Serb. ivica, Bulg. iva
edge of a cloth), but this is semantically doubtful. Moreover, the etymol-
ogy of *jva, *jvica is just as unknown as the etymology of *inj.
BSl. *ledu- > PSl. *led ice, Lith. ldas, Latv. ldus, OPr. ladis; ESSJa
14:912 leaves this word without an etymology. Vasmer (25) adduces MIr.
ladg snow (MoIr. laogh), but this comparison is very uncertain. The MIr.
word is poorly attested and both stem formation and inflection are uncer-
tain (G sg. ladga or laide according to DIL).
BSl. *me/arGa- > PSl. *mera net, Lith. mrka sheet, table-cloth,
drag-net, Latv. maga railing, gallery; mga railing, gallery, mrsna;
Smoczyski (374) doubts the connection because Lith. -k- cannot cor-
respond to Slav. --. Snoj (420) reconstructs PIE *merHg
h
- from the root
*(s)mer- weave (Gr. mrms thread, Hitt. imeri-) and compares also Gr.
brkhos sling, rope, noose, MIr. braige prisoner (quoted from IEW 733);
actually the word is brga captive, prisoner, hostage, which DIL treats
as the development of OIr. brgae [f t] neck, throat. Beekes finds evi-
dence that both Gr. mrms (932) and brkhos (243) are Pre-Greek. Pronk
(p. c.) derives the BSl. words for net from PIE *merg- border, limit
13
ESSJa points to a putative semantic parallel in Lat. pirum pear, which it derives
from *peys- to beat, to crush (OCS pxati, etc.), but this is improbable, as Gr. pion
pear shows that these words are borrowed from some non-IE substratum (with the
mysterious prefix a- posited by Schrijver 1997?). Original PIE *piso- would be reflect-
ed as *peru- in Latin (De Vaan:467), cf. sero sow < *sish
1
oh
2
.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 92 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
93
(OIr. mruig, Lat. marg, Goth. marka area, border, MoPers. marz region. If
the original meaning of the root is preserved in Hitt. mrk-
i
/mark- divide,
separate, the meaning of net might be derivable from it. The acute in
BSl. would be the result of Winters law. However, the Balto-Slavic forms
point to the root-final plain velar, while the words meaning border, re-
gion show reflexes of a palatalized PIE guttural.
BSl. *pausta- > PSl. *pust empty, deserted (OCS pust, Russ. pustj,
Pol. pusty, Croat. pst, Derksen 424), OPr. pausto; perhaps from *powH-d
h
-
to- cleansed (LIV *pewH- (1), cf. Ved. punti, OHG fouwen sieve)?
BSl. *(a)rayHa- > PSl. *orx nut, walnut (Russ. orx, Pol. orzech, Croat.
rah, Derksen 374), Lith. reutas, Latv. riksts, OPr. buccareisis beech-nuts;
Snoj 476f. connects also Alb. arr, Gr. pl. rya. Smoczyski (515f.) com-
pares Gr. erek break, tear, rend, but Beekes (452f.) relates this to Lat. rixa
quarell, Lith. ri kti cut hay < PIE *h
1
reyk-. The alternation of initial *o-
(< *a-) in Slavic and the vowelless form in Baltic is similar to the alterna-
tion posited by Schrijver (1997) in words from NW European substratum.
BSl. *seyHl > PSl. *sila force (OCS sila, Russ. sla, Pol. sia, Croat. sla,
Derksen 451), Lith. sela soul, OPr. seilin diligence; perhaps to *seh
2
i-
bind, Lith. dial. sien, Latv. set, Skr. s-, Hitt. ihiya, cf. PCelt. *soyto-
magic (MW hud, EDPC 352) and OIc. seir magic, charm from the same
root. Snoj (655) compares OIr. sethar powerful, W hydr strong, bold, but
this must be from a different root without the laryngeal (*seyd
h
-), and OIr.
sethar probably does not exist (it is a ghost-word). The connection with
the root *seh
2
i- is possible only under the assumption that the Slavic and
Baltic forms are not etymologically identical, as Slavic *sila must be from
*sih
2
leh
2
, while Lith. sela must reflect *seh
2
ileh
2
. This is quite improba-
ble, so it is better to consider BSl. *seyl a loanword from some unknown
source.
BSl. *ama- > PSl. *som sheat-fish (Russ. som, Pol. sum, Croat. sm, Derk-
sen 461), Lith. mas, Latv. sams; the usual connection with Gr. kamasnes a
kind of fish, [pl.] is doubtful. Snoj (682) thinks of a connection with Croat.
sm Lucioperca sandra, Slov. sm, as well as Russ. sudk id., but this is
difficult. Smoczyski 624 connects these words to Gr. kmaks shaft, pole,
but the semantic connection is to weak (? fish as long as a pole).
BSl. *tranTa- > PSl. *trd tree fungus, tinder (OCS trd illness, Pol.
trd leprosy, Croat. trd, Lith. trands woodworm, moth, Latv. trdi
[Npl.] mould (Derksen 4978). A variant with final voiceless stop seems
to be attested in Russ. trut tinder and Bulg. trt. Probably related to Lith.
trndu be eaten by worms (Vasmer III:144145). The derivation from the
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 93 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
94
root *terd- drill (Skr. tard-, thus in LIV) is possible only if one assumes
Schwebeablaut, or that the BSl. root *trend- was abstracted from the stem of
the nasal present *tr-n-d-, for which there is no evidence.
BSl. *traupa- > *trup dead body, log, OPr. trupis log; Snoj (789)
compares Lith. trupti crumble and Gr. trp bore, pierce trough. Vas-
mer (III:143144) adduces Latv. trupt rot, decay, Lith. trups crushed to
pieces, Latv. trupe soil, earth, Smoczyski 692693 accepts this and ad-
duces forms with initial d- such as Latv. drupt crumble, Latv. dial. drapt
crumble. Beekes (1513) doubts the appurtenance of Gr. trp and Gr.
trp hole because these point to a laryngeal root, and there is no evi-
dence for a laryngeal in BSl. Everything considered, it is safest to separate
the Balto-Slavic words from the putative Greek cognates, and the alterna-
tion between initial *t- and *d- in Baltic might point to substratum origin.
BSl. *tuli- > PSl. *tlst thick (Russ. tlstyj, Pol. tusty, Croat. tst),
Lith. tuti, tult swell, perhaps Latv. tulzis gall, Lith. tuls (4)
14
, Traut-
mann 332, Vasmer III:117. The alternation between st and might point
to a substratum origin. There may be a connection to Germ. *tulguz firm,
steadfast (Goth. tulgus, Orel 411) and *talg tallow (Germ. Talg, OIc. talg,
Orel 400), if we start from a substratum *TolK- / *TlK-.
Balto-Slavic also has a number of verbal roots which do not appear to
have any cognates elsewhere. Apart from this fact, there is no reason to
consider them borrowings from some unknown substratum. Here is a ten-
tative list:
BSl. *kauH- > PSl. *sovati shove (Russ. sovt, OCz. suvati, Slov. suvti,
Derksen 462), Lith. uti shoot, Latv. at, dial. sat; Snoj (711) compares
Skr. suvti pushes, sets in motion, Hitt. uwi- push away (Kloekhorst
797f.), but this does not explain Lith. -; Smoczyski 626627 does not
connect the BSl. words with PIE *sewH- but rather with *kewH- throw,
which LIV reconstructs as BSl. only.
BSl. *pel-/ *pl- burn > PSl. *paliti burn (OCS paliti, Croat. pliti, Pol.
pali, Russ. palt, Derksen 390), *pepel ashes (Croat. ppeo, Russ. ppel,
Pol. popi), Lith. pelena ashes, OPr. pelenne; LIV 805. Related is also *pelin
(Snoj 504). The root does not seem to be attested outside Balto-Slavic, but
we think it might be derived by metathesis from PIE *leh
2
p- (> *lp- > BSl.
*pl-), cf. Hitt. lpzi glows, Gr. lmp, OPr. lopis flame, OIr. lasaid burn
(EDPC 235). In that case the words for ashes must be from a different root,
perhaps PIE *pelH- chaff (OPr. pelwo, OCS [pl.] plvy, etc., IEW 802).
14
Smoczyski 694 derives these words for gall bladder from *ulti- by metathe-
sis.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 94 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
95
BSl. *sewt- be mad > PSl. *ut fool (Russ. ut), *ustr movable,
handy (Russ. stryj, Vasmer III:439440), Lith. sisti, siunt be mad,
Latv. ust, utu be angry, Vasmer III:439440, Trautmann 269. Per-
haps related are the reflexes of PSl. *ustr quick, handy (Croat. star,
Byelorussian ostry handy, Gluhak 714).
Looking at the set of words adduced in the previous section, we must
now ask if they exhibit any sort of quasi-regular, but non-IE morpholog-
ical or phonological patterns, which would point to their substratum ori-
gin. Do they show any of the patterns typical of the North West European
substratum established by the Leiden school Indo-Europeanists? These in-
clude the alternation of voiced (and aspirated?) and voiceless stops at the
end of the first syllable (Boutkan 2003), especially between *p, *b, *bb, *ff,
*pp and *mp, in Germanic (Kuiper 1995); the prefixing of a word-initial
*a- and the reduction in the vocalism of the remainder of the word in Ital-
ic, Celtic, and Germanic (Schrijver 1997), the presence of the non-IE vowel
*-a- (Kuiper 1995, Beekes 1996, Boutkan 2003) and its alternation with *-ai-
in Germanic (Schrijver 1997), as well as the clusters *kl- and *kn- in Ger-
manic. Boutkan (2003) also mentions the typically disyllabic root-shape
(CVCVC) with alternating vowels in the second syllable. None of these
features are found in our material, except for the alternation of voiced and
voiceless stops and fricatives (and, in the case of the word for nut, per-
haps the alternation of initial *a- with zero).
15

Within Baltic, words with this alternation are quite common. A list can
be found in Endzeln 1971:7576. Here is a selection:
Lith. viskti / vizgti swing,
Lith. virpti / virbti vibrate
Latv. klpis armful, Lith. klbs
Latv. drupas ruins and drubaa small pieces, fragments;
Latv. knpt and knbt to peck,
Lith. slstai trap, Latv. slazds,
Latv. sniekt to give and sniegt
Lith. klusns obedient and glusns id.
Lith. krianos handle of a knife and grianos
Lith. kmb clothes peg and gmb
Latv. pires sheeps dung and bires
Lith. trenti rot, moulder, Latv. trent, drent
Lith. kakaras hillock, high ground, gagaras id. cf. Croat. uka, ukara
Latv. kapana haystack and gabana
15
Of course, in Balto-Slavic, the vowel *a is not diagnostic, since PIE *o and *a >
BSl. *a.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 95 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
96
In some cases, words showing this alternation may be Uralic loan-
words, or they may reflect the pronunciation of originally Baltic words
by speakers of Uralic, who underwent language shift. However, it is cer-
tainly not the case that all of these words must be loanwords from non-IE
languages. Moreover, the alternation of voiced and voiceless consonants
is sometimes also found in words with perfectly convincing PIE etymol-
ogies:
PSl. *drab rag, cloth (ULus. draby clothes, Ukr. drab poor man,
Slk. drabina side panel on a cart), Lith. drb cloth, Trautmann 61, ESS-
Ja V:100101. This is plausibly connected with PSl. *drapati tear, scratch
(Russ. drpat, Cz. drpati, Croat. drpati, ESSJa V:101102) < PIE *drep-
(Gr. drp pluck, perhaps also Ved. drp- mantle).
PSl. *dupa, *duplja hole, hollow (Russ. dial. dpa, Cz. arch. doupa hol-
low, Slov. dpa hole, burrow, Croat. dplja hollow, Pol. dziupla hol-
low) vs. Lith. daub ravine, hole, Goth. diups deep, OE dop deep < PIE
*d
h
ewb-, ESSJa V:157158.
16
PSl. *drz bold (OCS drz, Russ. dial. drzyj, Cz. drz) vs. OPr. dir-
sos good, Lith. drss courageous, Gr. thrass bold, ESSJa V:208f. Slavic
-z- is unexplained, but it must be old, since we would otherwise expect the
change of *s > *x by RUKI-rule.
PSl. *lupiti to peel, *lub peel, Lith. laupti break, lpti peel, Latv.
laupt peel, Lat. liber bark of a tree, book, Alb. lab rind, Lith. lobas
bast, Latv. luobas peel, OPr. lubbo bast, plank, Lith. lub plank. LIV re-
constructs PIE *lewp- on the basis of BSl. alone and does not discuss the
relationship to *lewb
h
-. The forms with *-p- could have been generalized
from the sigmatic aorist (*lewb
h
-s- > *lewp-s-), but there is no evidence
that this verbal root ever formed a sigmatic aorist.
PSl. *trt drone, Lith. trnas, Latv. trans, tranis; certainly related
to Germ. Drohne, Gr. thrnaks, but details of development are unclear
(Smoczyski 682). Holzer (1989) interprets this word as Temematic (see
above), but the voiceless initial stop is the only argument for this hypoth-
esis. In light of the overall uncertainty of the Temematic theory, it is bet-
ter to simply acknowledge that we do not know the source and the origi-
nal form of this word.
PSl. *tp- / *dp- to stamp: Pol. depta, Cz. deptati vs. Russ. toptt,
Croat. tptati, topot; the original form had *t-, cf. Gr. tpt beat, Skr. tupti
id., Latv. staupe trampling (of horses), Vasmer III:122.
16
Germanic *-p- might be explicable by Kluges law, as arising from *-b- in a na-
sal stem.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 96 3/19/2014 9:30:15 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
97
The causes of alternations of voiced and voiceless stops can often be ac-
counted for within Indo-European. For example, the root-final voiceless
stops in verbal roots can be the result of de-voicing before *-s- in the sig-
matic aorist, and the root-final voiceless stop in a nominal form can be the
result of generalization of the de-voiced stop which was regular before the
nominative singular ending *-s in a root noun (Matasovi 2011). Thus, it is
methodically objectionable to derive all words in which Slavic and Baltic
have unexpected articulation of stops from a non-IE substratum.
Here is, finally, a tentative list of Balto-Slavic words with no plausible
PIE etymology, which could have been borrowed from some substratum:
Probable: *(a)rayHu- nut, *bauKura- hillock, *e/amela- mistletoe,
*graSa- terrible, , *Krawa- pear, *ledu- ice, *me/arG-ska- net, *ama-
sheat-fish, *Traupa- log, *tuli- thick, fat.
Possible: *PurHna- snout, *ni- hoar-frost, *Klawa- deaf, dumb,
*seyl force, *tranTa- tree fungus.
17
Most of these words belong to semantic fields that are easily prone to
borrowing. However, they do not share any obvious features that would
help us attribute them to a single substratum. The irregular vocalic alter-
nations and the alternations between voiced and voiceless stops are not
specific enough, and we find similar alternations in the words belonging
to the Northwest European layer of vocabulary in Celtic, Germanic, and
Italic. Thus, we can conclude that there is no reason to assume that Balto-
Slavic borrowed words from a single substratum.
Discussion and conclusions
The examination of the list of words belonging to the European vo-
cabulary in Balto-Slavic presented in the last chapter allows us to make the
following observations:
Firstly, Baltic and Slavic share this European vocabulary much more of-
ten with the western and northern European languages (Germanic, Italic
and Celtic) than with the southern ones (Greek and Albanian), see Table
I. This observation is consistent with the hypothesis, common among ar-
chaeologists, that Baltic and Slavic, together with Germanic, and possibly
also Celtic and Italic, arose on the territory of the Corded Ware Horizon of
the late 4th and the 3rd millennium BC (Mallory 1989, Anthony 2007:344
370). The Northwest European vocabulary was borrowed from substra-
tum language(s) in the area occupied by the Corded Ware Horizon, which
17
Capital letters indicate alternation between voiced and voiceless consonants, i. e.
*S can be both *s and *z, *T can be both *d and *t, etc.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 97 3/19/2014 9:30:16 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
98
was Indo-European, according to the communis opinio among archaeol-
ogists.
Secondly, words attested only in European branches of IE, but lack-
ing in Anatolian, Tocharian, Indo-Iranian and (somewhat less common-
ly) in Armenian, are not often shared by both Baltic and Slavic groups of
languages (see Table I). This can be explained in two ways. We might as-
sume that substratum words from the Northwestern European substra-
tums entered the ancestors of modern Baltic and Slavic languages after the
Balto-Slavic period, when Baltic languages and Proto-Slavic were parts
of a large dialect continuum stretching over much of Central and East-
ern Europe. Only the extreme parts of that continuum were preserved un-
til the present: the Eastern Baltic languages, and Proto-Slavic, which is
relatively shallow, since it was spoken in the 5th century AD. The subse-
quent expansion of the Slavs covered much of the earlier dialect contin-
uum, erasing many idioms previously spoken between the Proto-Slavic
and the Eastern Baltic areas. During the time of the borrowing of non-
IE loanwords, dialects belonging to different parts of this dialect continu-
um borrowed words from rather different substratum or adstratum lan-
guages. This would mean positing Proto-Balto-Slavic at a very early pe-
riod, presumably before the Corded Ware Horizon in the third millenni-
um BC. Considering how close the Balto-Slavic languages are from the di-
alectal point of view, I am inclined to believe the other possible explana-
tion: that loanwords belonged to semantic fields in which rates of lexical
replacement are very high, so that the original non-IE loanwords usually
survived only in parts of the original Balto-Slavic area.
Thirdly, the number of words that may be of substratum origin, and
that are preserved only in Balto-Slavic, is very limited (perhaps as few
as 14, but probably not more than 20). It is significantly smaller than the
number of words of substratum origin that can be attributed to Proto-Celt-
ic, or to Insular Celtic (see EDPC), and it is also much smaller than the
number of substratum words in Greek, for example.
18
This is probably
due to the fact that, during the Balto-Slavic period, speakers of that pro-
to-language were surrounded by speakers of other, more peripheral Indo-
-European dialects (especially Germanic and Celtic) that were exposed to
more intensive contacts with speakers of non-IE languages. Consequent-
ly, during the period when Balto-Slavic separated from the other NW Eu-
ropean dialects as an individual idiom, borrowing from non-IE substrata
was minimal.
18
Apparently as much as 10 % of Greek words in Beekes recent etymological dic-
tionary (2011) are of substratum origin.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 98 3/19/2014 9:30:16 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
99
Words shared with
NW European
Words shared with
SE European
Words with cognates in
most European branches
of IE
26 (12 attested in both
Baltic and Slavic)
4 (2 attested in both
Baltic and Slavic)
10 (6 attested in both
Baltic and Slavic)
Table I: The distribution of possible Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
References
Andersen, Henning. 2003. Slavic and the Indo-European Migrations. Lan-
guage Contacts in Prehistory. Studies in Stratigraphy (Current Issues in
Linguistic Theory 239) ed. by Henning Andersen, AmsterdamPhila-
delphia : John Benjamins. 4576.
Anreiter, Peter. 2001. Die vorrmischen Namen Pannoniens. Budapest :
Archaeo lingua.
Anthony, David. 2007. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language. Baltimore : John
Hopkins University Press.
Beekes, Robert S. P. 1996. Ancient European Loanwords. Historische Sprach-
forschung 109, 215236.
Boutkan, Dirk. 1998. On the form of North European substratum words in
Germanic. Historische Sprachforschung 111, 102133.
Boutkan, Dirk. 2003 On Gothic MAGA ~ Old Frisian MEGITH and the
form of some North European substratum words in Germanic. Amster-
damer Beitrge zur lteren Germanistik 58, 1127.
Brozovi, Dalibor. 1992. Review of Holzer 1989. Wiener Slavistisches Jahr-
buch 35, 223225.
Derksen, Rick. 2000. Old Icelandic jarpi hazel-grouse, rjpa ptarmigan
and their Germanic and Balto-Slavic cognates. In: D. Boutkan and A.
Quak (eds.) Language contact. Substratum, superstratum, adstratum in Ger-
manic Languages, Amsterdam : Rodopi. 97105.
Endzelns, Janis. 1971. Jnis Endzelns Comparative Phonology and Morphol-
ogy of the Baltic Languages. The Hague : Mouton.
Gob, Zbigniew. 1972. Kentum Elements in Slavic. Lingua Posnaniensis 16,
5381.
Gob, Zbigniew. 1990. The Origins of the Slavs. Columbus : Slavica.
Holzer, Georg. 1989. Entlehnungen aus einer bisher unbekannten indogerma-
nischen Sprache im Urslavischen und Urbaltischen. Vienna : Verlag der s-
terreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Kallio, Petri. 2005. A Uralic Substratum in Balto-Slavic Revisited. In:
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 99 3/19/2014 9:30:16 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
100
Sprachkontakt und Sprachwandel: Akten der XI. Fachtagung der Indo-
germanischen Gesellschaft. Ed. by Gerhard Meiser & Olav Hackstein,
Wies baden : Reichert. 275283.
Katii, Radoslav. 1976. Ancient Languages of the Balkans. The Hague : Mou-
ton.
Kortlandt, Frederik. 2003. An Indo-European substratum in Slavic. In: A.
Bammesberger (ed.) Languages in Prehistoric Europe. Heidelberg : Win-
ter. 253260.
Kuiper, Franciscus B. 1995. Gothic bagms and Old Icelandic ylgr, NOWELE
25. 6388.
Mallory, James. 1989. In Search of the Indo-Europeans. London : Thames and
Hudson.
Matasovi, Ranko. 2005. The Centum Elements in Balto-Slavic. In:
Sprachkontakt und Sprachwandel: Akten der XI. Fachtagung der Indo-
germanischen Gesellschaft. Ed. by Gerhard Meiser & Olav Hackstein.
Wies baden : Reichert. 363374.
Matasovi, Ranko. 2007. Notulae etymologicae, Folia onomastica Croatica
15, 159164.
Matasovi, Ranko. 2011. The etymology of Latin focus and the devoicing of
root-final stops before *s in PIE. Historische Sprachforschung 123, 212
216.
Matasovi, Ranko. 2012. Areal Typology of Proto-Indo-European: The
Case for Caucasian Connections. Transactions of the Philological Society
110, 128.
Moszyski, Leszek. 1992. Review of Holzer 1989. Rocznik Slawistyczny
48/1, 8895.
Oettinger, Norbert. 2003. Neuerungen in Lexikon und Wortbildung des
Nordwest-Indogermanischen. In: A. Bammesberger (ed.) Languages in
Prehistoric Europe, Heidelberg : Winter. 183194.
Schrijver, Peter. 1997. Animal, Vegetable and Mineral: some Western Euro-
pean Substratum Words. In: Sound Law and Analogy, Papers in Honor of
Robert S. P. Beekes on the Occasion of his 60
th
Birthday. Ed. by A. Lubotsky,
Amsterdam and Atlanta : Rodopi. 293316.
Schrijver, Peter 1999. On henbane and early European narcotics. Zeitschrift
fr celtische Philologie 51, 1745.
Stang, Christian 1972. Lexikalische Sonderbereinstimmungen zwischen dem
Slavischen, Baltischen und Germanischen. Oslo-Bergen-Troms : Univer-
sitetsforlaget.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 100 3/19/2014 9:30:16 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
101
Lexica
Beekes = R. S. P. Beekes. 2011. Etymological Dictionary of Greek. Leiden : Brill.
Bezlaj = F. Bezlaj. 19762007. Etimoloki slovar slovenskega jezika. Ljubljana.
Chambers = R. K. Barnhart (ed.). 1988. Chambers Dictionary of Etymology.
Chambers.
de Vaan = M. de Vaan. 2008. Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other
Italic Languages. Leiden : Brill.
Derksen = R. Derksen. 2008. Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited
Lexicon. Leiden : Brill.
EDPC = R. Matasovi. 2009. Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic. Leiden
: Brill.
DELG = P. Chantraine. 1967. Dictionnaire tymologique de la langue grecque.
Paris.
EIEC = Mallory, J. P. & Adams, D. Q. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture.
LondonChicago : Fitzroy Dearborn 1997.
EWA = M. Mayhrofer. 19922001. Etymologisches Wrterbuch des Altindo-
arischen. Heidelberg : Winter.
Gluhak = A. Gluhak. 1991. Hrvatski etimoloki rjenik. Zagreb : August Ce-
sarec.
IEW = J. Pokorny. 1959. Indogermanisches etymologisches Wrterbuch. Bern :
Francke.
LIV = H. Rix et alii. 1998. Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben. Wiesbaden :
Harrassowitz.
NIL = Wodtko, D. S., Irslinger, B. & Schneider, C. 2008. Nomina im indoger-
manischen Lexikon. Heidelberg : Winter.
Orel = V. Orel. 2003. A handbook of Germanic etymology. Leiden : Brill.
Skok = P. Skok. 1985. Etimologijski rjenik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika. Za-
greb : JAZU.
Smoczyski = W. Smoczyski. 2007. Sownik etymologiczny jzyka litew-
skiego. Vilnius : Uniwersytet Wileski.
Snoj = M. Snoj. 2003. Slovenski etimoloki slovar. Ljubljana : Modrijan.
SP = Sownik prasowiaski, pod redakcj Franciszka Sawskiego. 1974.
Wrocaw etc. : Polska Akademia Nauk.
Trautmann = R. Trautmann. 1921. Balto-slavisches Wrterbuch. Gttingen .
ESSJa = V. N. Trubaev (ed.). 1974. timologieskij slovar slavjanskix
jazykov. Moscow.
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 101 3/19/2014 9:30:16 PM
Ranko Matasovi: Substratum words in Balto-Slavic
FILOLOGIJA 60(2013), 75102
102
Supstratne rijei u baltoslavenskim jezicima
Saetak
U ovom su lanku prikupljene i analizirane rijei posvjedoene u baltosla-
venskim jezicima bez jasne indoeuropske etimologije, koje po jasno definira-
nim kriterijima mogu biti posuenice iz nekoga supstratnog jezika (pripada-
ju odreenim semantikim poljima, pokazuju neobine tvorbene osobitosti,
itd.). Pokazuje se da veinu takvih rijei baltoslavenski jezici dije le s drugim
indoeuropskim jezicima sjeverne i zapadne Europe (osobito s germanskima,
u manjoj mjeri s keltskima i italskima), dok su znatno malobrojnije rijei sup-
stratnog podrijetla koje usporednice imaju u jezicima june Europe (grki i al-
banski). Raspravlja se i o pretpostavci Georga Holzera o postojanju niza rijei
koje su u baltoslavenski posuene iz iezloga indoeuropskog jezika koji on
naziva temematskim, no pokazuje se da je vrlo malo tih rijei posvjedoeno
i u baltijskim i u slavenskim jezicima, te da one obino imaju uvjerljive indo-
europske etimologije. Zakljuuje se da je u baltoslavenskome vrlo malo rije-
i koje su posuene iz nekoga supstratnog jezika iz kojega istovremeno rijei
nisu posuivane i u drugim granama indoeuropskih jezika.
Kljune rijei: etimologija, supstrat, pretpovijesni jezini dodiri, baltoslaven-
ski, indoeuropski
Key words: etymology, substratum, prehistoric language contacts, Balto-Sla-
vic, Proto-Indo-European
075_102_Filologija_60_Matasovic_3.indd 102 3/19/2014 9:30:16 PM

Potrebbero piacerti anche